50 Banned Books (And Why Banning Books Is a Bad Idea)
As a writer, the fact that people are still banning books in 2022 hurts my soul. I am one hundred percent anti-censorship, and I believe that all true artists share this sentiment. Freedom of expression is not only our livelihood, but also our lifeblood.
As a book coach, I encourage my clients to be unapologetically themselves, to explore ideas, to voice opinions, and not to censor their words for some unknown “them”.
As a teacher, I wanted my students to see themselves reflected in the books they read–whatever their identity or reality. I wanted charcters and sitaations they could relate to. And ones they couldn’t. I also wanted them to be challenged, to see a world bigger than the one they know and to learn to empathize with the “other.” I want them learn about, and more importantly, learn from history so they are prepared to lead us into the future.
As a parent, I want my children to be challenged, to see a world bigger than the one they know and to learn to empathize with the “other.” I want them to realize that the world is a much bigger place than they know. I want them to confront new ideas, especially unpopular and even hateful ones. Learning how to respond to mistruths on the page will prepare them to advocate for justice in the real world.
And, as a former laywer and constituional law professor, I believe in the First Amendment, freedom of speech, and the marketplace of ideas. Democracy is only sustainable if ALL people are free to speak their minds. Even when those opinions are silly, stupid, and downright wrong. Mutliple viewpoints and open discourse are precursors to honest debate.
There is not part of me that understands or sympathises with banning books.
Banning Books in 2022
I do not believe that all opinions are equal, nor even valuable. But the best way to quash bad information is with more information. The more conversation there is about a topic, the more likley the truth will be revealed.
But this is no longer a popular opinion. In fact, in the past few months there has been an uptick in the number of parents and school boards banning books. It is a msall uptick to be sure, but any uptick is a move in the wrong direction.
Parents in one Florida school district are advocating for the removal of more than fifty books from school library shelves due to allegedly explicit sexual content. Meanwhile, in other districts schools are banning books about the holocaust and classics like To Kill a Mockingbird and The Handmaid’s Tale.
In fact, just take a look at the titles that have fallen victim to the practice of banning books:
50 Banned Books
- 13 Reasons Why, by Jay Asher
- 1984, by George Orwell
- The Bluest Eye, by Toni Morrison
- All Boys Arren’t Blue
- An Abundance of Katcherines, by John Greene
- Animal Farm, by Geogre Orwell
- As I Lay Dying, by William Faulkner
- Beloved, by Toni Morrison
- Brave New World, by Aldous Huxley
- Catch 22, by Joseph Heller
- Catcher in the Rye, by JD Salinger
- The Chocolte War, by Robert Cormier
- A Clockwork Orange, by Anthony Burgess
- Color Purple, by Alice Walker
- The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime, by Mark Haddon
- Forever, by Judy Blume
- A Farewell to Arms, by Ernest Hemingway
- George, by Alex Gino
- Gone with the Wind, by Margaret Mitchell
- Goosebump Series. R.L. Stine
- The Grapes of Wrath, by John Steinbeck
- The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald
- The Handmaid’s Tale, by Margaret Atwood
- Harry Potter, by JK Rowling
- The Hate U Give, by Angie Thomas
- The Hunger Games, by Susan Collins
- In Cold Blood, by Truman Capote
- Invisible Man, by Ralph Ellisons
- A Light in the Attic, by Shel Silverstein
- Lolita, by Vladimir Nabokov
- Looking for Alaska, by John Green
- The Lord of the Flie, by William Golding
- The Lord of the Rings, by JRR Tolkein
- Maus, by Art Speligman
- Monday’s Not Coming, by Tiffany D. Jackson
- Native Son, by Richard Wright
- Of Mice and Men, by John Steinbeck
- The New Kid, by Jerry Craft
- One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, by Ken Kesey
- Rabbit, Run, by John Updike
- Separate Piece, by John Knowles
- Slaughterhouse Five, by Kurt Vonnegut
- Speak, by Laurie Halse Anderson
- Stamped: Racism, Antiracism and You, by Ibram X. Kendi & Jason Reynolds
- The Sun Also Risess, by Ernest Hemingway
- Their Eyes Were Wacthing God, by Zora Neale Hurston
- To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee
- Twilight Saga, by Stephanie Meyer
- Ulysses, by James Joyce
- A Wrinkle in Time, by Madeline L’Engle
How many of these books have you read? While I certaily don’t love all the books on this list (The Grapes of Wrath I’m looking at you – not even being on the banned book list made you exciting enough for me), I’ve read so many of these amazing titles. And they’ve changed my life.
Can you even imagine a world without such provocative books? We’ve got to stop the practice of banning books now.
Happy Reading!
